reviews: books: mother's guide to sex Anne Semans and Cathy Winks

I have a terrible secret to tell. I'm not a mother. So what, exactly, am I doing reviewing a book on motherhood and sex?

Learning a lot, let me tell you.

Many of my girlfriends have had babies, and have carried around those What to Expect... books like bibles. But those books only tell you about the baby. This book gives you the goods on the real stuff - love, emotions, sex, and your body. Before, during and after. No placing of “mom” on a Madonna-like platter here; it's for real women, who have real relationships, and also have kids.

It answers the questions that most moms and moms-to-be I know (including me) want to know, like:

  • How sex feels - and common problems (and ways to solve 'em) when you're pregnant
  • How do you make time and energy for sex when you have a newborn in the house?
  • How to spice it up (with Cosmo-free advice, trust me)
  • Privacy issues and how to handle 'em
  • How to raise your kids with a sex-positive attitude, even when your own history didn't give you much to work with
But the thing that struck me the most about this book was how much of it was relevant to me, kids or no. There are truly excellent chapters on self-esteem and self-love from which every woman can benefit. Many of the suggestions and methods these ladies suggest for dealing with sex in a relationship would work equally well for couples who don't have kids.

For me, the best part about the book is the way it's written. Frank and warm, these ladies know what they're talking about. Both of them are moms who love sex. They don't concern themselves with what you want to hear or what doctors or the media says you should know. They dish the straight goods, and answer the stuff no one else has had the guts to answer. The cover the gamut from pre-pregnancy to being a mom with teenagers. It's the most comprehensive I (or my friends who have kids) have ever seen.

When I do decide to have kids, there might be one of those other books on my nightstand, but this one will have permanent residence there, without a doubt. Moms and moms-to-be, if you've been looking for the ultimate reference on the subject, this is the one you want.


About the authors
Anne Semans and Cathy Winks are no strangers to sexuality. They've authored The New Good Vibrations Guide to Sex and The Woman's Guide to Sex on the Web and have spent fifteen years writing and speaking about sex.

2001.05.29 08:20 AM
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